#140RVW
May be the father of not just 1980’s coming of age stories but really all youth comedies to come. Quest to belong & find your place eternal.
What’s more:
If you haven’t seen it in a while, dust this one off; it holds up gloriously. If you’ve never seen it, you are in for a treat. Remember that it’s 1979, of course; but the lack of polish subtracts nothing.
What is really amazing is how fresh the pacing is for a movie of that era. It’s less a movie from the end of the 1970’s than it feels like the first movie of the 1980’s. Moves along at a fantastic clip; possibly even too brisk. I really wouldn’t have minded a bit more depth to some of the other Cutters.
The cycling aspects of the movie are very well done, even if you are indifferent to cycling (raises hand). The underdog sports story does what it is supposed to, and the races are very exciting. Which is all the more impressive when you consider this really isn’t a sports movie.
The interactions between these aimless friends will be familiar to anyone who saw a movie in the past 35 years. While only Dennis Christopher’s lead Dave Stoller gets significant character development time, the emotions and actions of all of the characters are allowed some room to move, and as a coming of age story it succeeds wonderfully. The humor of the teens doesn’t come against a backdrop of nincompoop adults; everyone is three dimensional. Writer Steve Tesich took home an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
It really is a classic. Go see it.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
| Main Cast | Dennis Christopher Dave, Dennis Quaid Mike, Daniel Stern Cyril, Jackie Earle Haley Moocher |
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | Fri 20 Jul 1979 UTC |
| Director | Peter Yates |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama, Sport |
| Plot | A small-town teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 101 |
| Tagline | Somewhere between growing up and settling down… [Australia Theatrical] |
| Writers | Steve Tesich (written by) |
| Year | 1979 |